With a new year comes new hope. For women’s volleyball, their 3-0 victory against RMC is a good starting point for them to turn the corner.

From the first serve of the game, the Gaels showed no rust in their first league matchup since November. Queen’s cruised to a 25-9 first set victory, followed by scrappier second and third sets in which the team ultimately prevailed 25-13 and 25-16, respectively.

Third-year outside hitter Isabelle Korchinski led the team on offense with 10 kills, while Caroline Livingston topped the defence with eight digs, in addition to nine kills of her own.

Speaking after the game, Livingston acknowledged the significance of the win at this halfway point of the season. She noted how especially following two straight five-set losses in their previous games against Nipissing and York, this was a good start to the second portion of the season.

Livingston also talked about the impact of playing at home, given that the Gaels had played their previous four league games — a stretch they finished 1-3 — away from the ARC. “It’s always nice to be back in this gym with the good home game feel,” she said.

Discussing the Gaels’ opponents — an RMC team that remains winless on the season — Livingston complimented their performance, and mentioned how her own team needed to stay at the top of their game throughout.

“RMC is a really good competitor to play,” she said, “they play a really scrappy game.” Of her own team, Livingston said “they did a really good job communicating that going in with that game plan and just staying really positive and running the game on our side.”

The Gaels were successful in dictating play from their half of the court. The presence of Korchinski and Livingston, along with first-year Savannah de Groot — who had eight kills — and the rest of Queen’s rotating frontcourt, maintained the pressure on the Paladins.

Defensively, the Gaels managed eight blocks and generally well-contested attacks.

Outside hitter Kara Stephan led the RMC team, often making the first pass and finishing with a hit for her team, while also occasionally troubling the Gaels with her strong serve. However, the contributions of every member of the home team simply became too strong on the day.

The teams will meet again next weekend on the other side of the St. Lawrence River, with the Gaels looking to sweep the home-and-home series and pull closer to .500 on the season, improving on their 4-6 record.

As Caroline Livingston summarized, “going forward, we’ve got a pretty good feeling about it.”